Ergo Proxy is just plain freaking cool. I love the dark, almost monotone animation. The bright blue eye shadow of Re-l, the flash of a red laser, or brilliant green eyes make everything pop. While the darkness lends depth to the story, these bright spots of color shine like beacons and become the punctuation.

In the domed city of Romdo a humanoid monster strapped to a table in a lab is waking up and escapes. We don’t know what the monster is beyond the fact that it is called the Proxy or why it was in the lab in the first place. Of course the government is involved and when the monster escapes they are hot on its heels.

Re-l is the Regent’s granddaughter and a member of the intelligence office. Being a member of the Regent’s family offers her some protection when it comes to the political conspiracy that is brewing. But when she becomes too nosy about some mysterious claw marks left at a crime scene the higher-ups do everything they can to make sure she doesn’t learn anymore.

When Re-l is attacked in her home by the mysterious Proxy and then saved by a second one, the government covers their tracks. They claim that she was being stalked by an immigrant by the name of Vincent Law and that the monster she claims to have seen is nothing more than after-effects of the shock of being attacked. But Re-l knows that she isn’t suffering from shock and that Vincent was not stalking her, though she does think he is involved in some way.

In Romdo the citizens live side by side with robots called AutoReivs. Most citizens have one that they keep with them at all times, an entourage of sorts. Re-l realizes that her AutoReiv Iggy is being monitored by her grandfather so she figures out a way to leave the AutoReiv behind when she begins to investigate Vincent Law. Vincent is involved with the disposal of AutoReivs who have been infected with a mysterious virus known as Cogito. Beyond that Vincent is a mystery.

Re-l isn’t the only one hunting for Vincent; the government is after him as well. Fortunately for Vincent, Re-l finds him first only to watch him escape through an air vent in the dome and into the outside world. The scene is simply fantastic. For the first few episodes Vincent has walked around with his eyes closed or partly closed and as Re-l watches he opens brilliant lime green eyes and falls into the void.

Who is Vincent Law? What is outside the domed city of Romdo? What is the Proxy? How is everything connected? I have no idea but I’m looking forward to watching everything come together.

Volume one contains four episodes, “Awakening (Pulse of Awakening)”, “Confession (Confession of a Fellow Citizen)”, “Mazecity (Leap into the Void)”, and “Futu-Risk (Signs of Future, Hades of Future)” with the usual previews of up coming releases. Ergo Proxy is a title that was being released by Geneon but fortunately for us the series ended before they made the announcement that they would no longer be releasing titles. So, pick up the first volume and enjoy.